Denver Nuggets, led by Kenneth Faried, top NBA in offensive rebounds

Denver Nuggets' Kenneth Faried plays during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012, in San Antonio.
(Darren Abate)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Robin Lopez is the New Orleans Hornets' starting center. Seven-footer Andrea Bargnani plays more than 34 minutes per game for the Toronto Raptors. Forward Michael Beasley averages 30 minutes for the Phoenix Suns. And the Milwaukee Bucks' Ersan Ilyasova averaged 8.8 rebounds per game just a season ago.

All four of these players average fewer rebounds per game this season than Kenneth Faried averages in offensive rebounds.

The Nuggets power forward is grabbing 5.7 offensive boards per game, best in the NBA. And teammate JaVale McGee averages three, the second most of any player not averaging 20 minutes.

Add it up and the Nuggets lead the NBA in offensive rebounds (16.8 per game), more than two ahead of the second-place Los Angeles Lakers (14.1).

"I think it starts with me, personally. The way I go, I go so hard, I keep going to the offensive rebound," said Faried, who is averaging 14.0 points and 11.3 rebounds. "And if I'm not getting it, at least one of my teammates can try to get it, so I tip it up or tip it out. There's a lot of pride in it, and we try to be the best at what we do."

Oh, and the Nuggets lead the league in total rebounding, too, as might be expected. In nine of their first 11 games, Denver (5-6) has outrebounded its opponent. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the Nuggets are 68-21 when they win the rebounding battle.

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Watching a Nuggets game can be entertaining even if one watches only Faried, an athletic, energetic player. Occasionally his outstretched, 7-foot wingspan isn't long enough to corral the ball, but he has shown a presence of mind to slap or tip the ball rather than try to grab a rebound he can't control. This doesn't guarantee a teammate will get it, but it at least guarantees the guy he's fighting for the ball won't.

After Monday's impressive win at Memphis, in which the Nuggets had 21 offensive rebounds, the Grizzlies' Rudy Gay said: "They outworked us. They outplayed us. They crushed us on the boards, and that is usually not like us."

Of players who are averaging 20 or more minutes, Faried and McGee trail only the Lakers' Jordan Hill in offensive rebound percentage, which is the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player gets while on the floor.

"Me and Kenneth work so hard on the offensive boards because basically that's how we're going to get our points," McGee said. "We have to get (points) however we can. So we really go hard on the offensive boards."

Coach George Karl was asked how his team gets so many offensive rebounds.

"Well, one of them is we're missing a lot of shots," Karl said with a wry smile. "But Kenneth is very confident there. That's his NBA talent, that's his skill. His energy is contagious, and JaVale has gotten to be very confident."